Behind the Monster's Eyes
by MidnightEden234
Summary: Was it a sin that he loved? Was it a sin for him to fall for his darker half? Was such a small crime worthy of such a large punishment? Many years afterwards, Shirosaki investigates the legend of a small town in the mountains, said to be haunted by a horrible monster, only to find out that a man lies behind the monster's eyes. Alternate Universe HichiIchi yaoi!


**I KNOW! I'm starting ANOTHER story, but… I just HAD to POST THIS!**

**And YES I CAN use caps if I WANT TO!**

**So anyways… Hope you guys like this story~! :D**

**Full Summary: It all started long ago with a sin, a curse and a framed man… Hichigo Shirosaki, famous explorer, decides to stop in small village known as Karakura. There he discovers the village is haunted by an ancient evil. What truth lives within the legend of the dreadful monster that's rumored to take refuge in the mountains outside of the village? Hichigo is prepared to find out, though he discovers more than he bargained for.**

**Pairing: HichiIchi**

**Rating: M**

**Rating this Chapter: T**

-=Prologue=-

He released a lengthy sigh, hauling his rug sack off his shoulder. Hichigo was getting a little tired of adventuring, but when the boss said to go to a small town in the middle of nowhere, he went to that small town in the middle of nowhere.

So here he stood, gazing over the three rows of tiny huts that made up this quickly ending town, if you could even call it a town. _More like a village. Don't know why they call it Karakura Town, _Hichigo thought to himself.

Now, in a _village_ this small, everyone knew everyone, so naturally a stranger would arise a few suspicions and questions, possibly a few stares. But when a man with shocking white hair, albino skin and piercing gold-on-black eyes arrives, it arouses every stunned stare possible.

Hichigo ignored them and walked on. He was used to being gazed at like that, it was completely natural to him. He wasn't stupid, he knew how strange his appearance was, but he was who he was and he happened to love the uniqueness of his looks. Hichigo stood tall, approximately 5' 8'', with a lean well-built body. His hair was white, spiky but incapable of standing on-end. His fingernails were black, naturally black, another weird thing about him. But the strangest, and still Hichigo's most favourite, were his eyes. The gold of his eyes shamed the ore itself, it even shamed the molten hot magma of an active volcano. This mysterious shade of yellow was surrounded by black, darker than darkness itself.

Hichigo approached the innkeeper of the inn he was told he would be staying at. A girl turned to him and smiled, obviously expecting his arrival. She extended a hand made up of long, boney fingers and said, "Hi! You must be Hichigo Shirosaki, I'm Orihime Inoue, welcome!"

"Thanks," Hichigo responded, giving the girl a firm handshake while sparring a few seconds to look around. The outside look of this inn gave the inside look no mercy. While the outside was dull and made of old fashioned materials such as hay and logs, the inside was actually quite beautiful. A water fountain sat tucked away in a corner, the crystal clear water inside trickling down a mimicry mountain to the one outside. The wall paper was colored heavy lavender, but it happened to go quite nicely with the dirtied brown tiles on the floor.

"Here's your key," Orihime interrupted his visual scavenger hunt. Hichigo received a copper key, a plastic case outlining the key in red.

"Thank you."

"So…" Orihime murmured shyly, "If you don't mind me prying… why will you be staying here?"

Hichigo smiled. "It's not a problem. I'm staying 'cause I've gotta take picture of this place for my job. We host a photography magazine, and th'boss said this place would be perfect for somethin' like that," Hichigo responded, his accent finally making an appearance in his speech.

"So then, you'll be going up to the mountains then?"

"The _mountains_!?" A female from across the counter cried in protest. "You can**not **go there! It's forbidden, dangerous! No one's come out of there alive!"

"Rukia…" Orihime whined, "It's just a legend. Do you really think-?"

"You know as well as I that there's a monster living atop that mountain." The newly dubbed Rukia cut off Orihime. She turned to Hichigo, her appearance sweet but threatening. "Listen you," she pointed a rolled magazine into Hichigo's face, "If you go up that mountain you're not coming back."

"Why?" Hichigo raised his eyebrow playfully. "Got a secret up there ya don' want people knowin' about?"

Rukia slammed her small fists onto the counter. "I've got nothing to hide! But if you don't want to take advice from a local than you've gotta be stupid! I don't care about you, in fact I don't even know you so I wouldn't care if I never saw you again!"

_Challenge accepted. _"You little brat! You think I'm 'ere 'cause I wanna be? If I had my way I'd be outta here on the next flight, but I got a job t'do. Now maybe you should do your job an' tend to the counter a'ight?"

Rukia's eyes opened wide at Hichigo's response. She gathered up her magazine, turned around and marched off into a back room that clearly read "Employees Only".

Hichigo leaned back with a sigh. "Some customer service ya got 'ere."

Orihime giggled. "Oh, don't mind Rukia. She's just upset that her sister went up there and hasn't returned yet. You scared her pretty good though! No one ever talks back to Rukia!"

"Oh really? Well, guess I'm the first then?"

"Yeah, well besides her older brother."

"Oh. So then, can ya tell me more 'bout this 'monster in the mountains?'"

Orihime nodded. She sat back in her office chair. First stacking some papers, then placing them to the side and returning her attention to Hichigo. "It's an old story, more a myth nowadays. It goes like this; legend tells of a group of people who settled themselves in this land long before our days. These creatures were made of two halves, Yin and Yang. Every man and every woman had a balance of Yin and Yang within themselves, thus always making the correct decisions and living in peace.

"One day, a young man made the choice of allowing his Yin to control his Yang. This resulted in the destruction of the town. Feeling it was necessary; a goddess punished the young man, cursing him to a life of regret and misery atop the mountain. He would live forever, a monster at night, a man by day. He had to live by feeding on the pain and misery of the towns people below, but alas his darkness was removed and destroyed so he would receive no joy from the suffering he caused others.

"Some people still believe there is a monster living within the mountains. Though it's too dangerous to traverse the mountains at night, and the monster blends in with us during the day. Sometimes animals or food go missing, but it's never anything too serious."

Hichigo was intrigued to say the least. He wanted to hear more about this mysterious monster, but his arm was sore and his feet were tired. Thanking Orihime for the information, he dragged his feet up to his room.

Little did Hichigo know, his whole life was about to change.


End file.
